FREE LAPTOP OFFER WAS A SCAM
FREE LAPTOP OFFER WAS A SCAM
If you fell for this “great offer” to get a free laptop, you ended up thinking you were having a nightmare. This is a short version of what the scammers did and how they used your private information to make money for themselves while you were actually being charged for bogus ads and which you were now responsible to pay.
You agreed to the terms of the case study and gave them your private information, the “company” sent out your free laptop. While you were running the laptop, per the agreement 24/7 for the two to four months, the scammers used your private information to set up accounts under your name and ran ads under the accounts they set up from unsuspecting people. The ads made money for the scammer but the people who agreed to the case study are now owing large amounts of money for bogus ads taken out supposedly by them. When the program was first advertised, they said it was a case study for Google Ads when in fact it had nothing to do with Google. I have heard that some people had money taken from their bank or debit card and then when the card didn’t have a balance they turned them over to a collection company. We are not talking a small amount of money that these scammers ran up to those that signed up for the FREE LAPTOP and now the people in the case study have to pay, we are talking in the THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS!!!
Since I did not even attempt to do this case study, I am getting my information from sites and people who have done this case study. There was a person in charge of a company A2z and was responsible for keeping track of the sponsors. The sponsors then posted on their walls about this terrific study to get a free laptop. What wasn’t told was the sponsors got PAID up to $50 (from what I’ve heard) for each recruiter they could get. For some people all they saw was FREE LAPTOP and even after warning them about the possibility of losing so much, some would say it didn’t matter since they didn’t have money in the bank or the Gmail account was an old one. What they didn’t know was once the scammers had all their information, they had a field day getting into other computers, making new accounts under the names of those in the case study and making ads that were now the responsibility of those that got the free laptop. But it’s still not over for some. Their private information is in the wrong hands and who knows what it being done with it or how long it will be used in the wrong way.
There was also another part to this scam that I didn’t hear about until the can of worms opened up. There was a Facebook study also that worked by luring the people in and sending them checks that either bounced or are not in their name. How this worked was the scammers made up false businesses using people’s names. For example a person lives in New York but the false company is in California. The Facebook study ran more or less the same as the laptop case study, they ran ads on someone’s Facebook and they were paid for allowing them. Now those people who had this happen to them are worried about tax time for this reason!
This blog is just a tip of the iceberg on the findings for the free laptop case study scam, there is so much more but the bottom line is DON’T FALL FOR THINGS LIKE THIS!!
There is a saying that goes, “If it’s too good to be true, it usually is”. I posted my first blog, not knowing the process of this study or in fact whether it was a scam but it had so many red flags, everything was so secretive, people would get blocked if they questioned things and there was so much private information you had to give out. Even though I was fairly confident it was a scam and I vowed to get to the bottom of it either way, I never put the case study down in my first blog, I wrote it more as a warning and that’s what I stated at the end of my first blog. I also replied to the comments of those saying I was all wrong and told them I would write a rebuttal if in fact this was on the up and up. As you can see, that was not the case. I feel so bad for those that fell for such a scam, all for a maybe $100 laptop and now to be in collections for thousands of dollars plus all their personal information is still out there in the hands of the scammers.
Hopefully those that got burnt will be able to find a legal way to get out of paying these large amounts of money and they will immediately move on to the next post if they ever see an offer like this again. It was a hard lesson for some to learn but NEVER, EVER GIVE OUR PERSONAL INFORMATION SUCH AS THIS.
I’ve agreed with you this entire time. I’m sure a lot of people’s private info has been sold on the dark web, too.
I’m sure their private info has been sold all over! It may quite down and then show up even years down the road. So scary and hard to believe that people would give the email addy AND password with their driver’s license. Hopefully they can recoup some of the money that our out. I knew you and I had the same thoughts from day one Carol!
Thank you Martha for investigating this scam. Right now they aren’t saying anything about free laptop, they are putting work from home post on Facebook groups. Anyway A guy name Victor Cummings wrote to me this. wanting to recruit me……………….
.,……………….
Well, we are an advertising company. What we do is specialize in running advertisements on Facebook accounts for our partner company MASS MEDIA.
Now here’s where the job for you comes in…
You will be trained by me first and foremost.
I will show you how to go all over Facebook just by using your phone or laptop to get loads of traffic and to get people asking you to join. After you get a person to join, you will then post an advertisement on their Facebook account. Now keep in mind, YOU are not the one who is placing the ad on their account. That’s Mass Media’s job. You’re just the person doing the initial recruiting. I will show you step by step how to do everything.
Once you get an ad placed on their account, you have already made a commission. 50–75 bucks
So….50–75 bucks for one person. But you are obviously going to be signing several people up per week. Average sign up rates are 5-10 people a week.
Which equals DECENT MONEY! Lol
I do this full time and I love it. Would love to talk more with you if you are interested.
You will make your own hours, work at your own pace and spend more time living and less time worrying. You can call me too if you want.
772-828-8733. 🙏🏻
Also, you don’t give us your password. We use a screen sharing software called SplashTop…that allows Mass Media to connect to your computer (WHICH BY THE WAY, it is 100% safe and secure.) They do not access your computer and then go off and start doing sketchy BS. They literally just connect while you are present at your computer then they start placing the ad on your Facebook’s Ads Manager…You will witness every last thing that they do when they are connected for about 20 minutes.
I train you here on Facebook or over the phone. Your choice…………………….
Then he said I had to fill out an application but the link he gave was for the study. RIGHT AWAY I googled it and found your blog. THANK YOU SO MUCH…..if I can help you in anyway, please message me.
Thanks for stopping by with this information Cathy. I have heard about similar offers but not this one. To me it’s a bit questionable when he says 50-75 bucks. Not very professional sounding and also don’t like anyone sharing my computer even if I’m on it. It’s questionable as to after someone gets others to join, they place on ad on someone else’s account. There was another ad offer similar to this where this was done without the person agreeing to it and they ended up owing ad money into the thousands of dollars. I’m so glad you researched it when you got the application. There are many that are needed extra money and when they see this type of post, their eyes light up when they see how much they can earn. But what they don’t see is how much they can lose. I’m going to research this and when I find out about it will write another chapter on this topic. Thank you for the time you took to comment and if you ever have any other questions or concerns about something that you aren’t sure about being on the up and up please message or email me and I’ll get right on it! Glad you didn’t fall for this.
Such good advice. If it is too good to be true, it’s a scam. Anyone who asks for your password….that is NEVER legit. Copy of drivers’s license? Seriously? Wow. This is so very sad. I’ve already lost much of my faith in humanity.
I couldn’t get over the number of people that fell for this Alana! I even posted when it first was going around, warning them but they just saw the “free laptop” and jumped on it. I can’t imagine where all their private info is going or has gone.
I am one of the people that fell for this. And ya know, it wasn’t even so much the “free laptop” that convinced me to do it, it was the fact that a friend of mine was the recruiter, and I trusted her. But I didn’t feel right about it. They asked me to send a pic of my drivers license and I did, blocking out the ID number.
I feel so stupid. Though nothing bad has happened yet, I feel pretty uneasy. My bf has all his info on his computer.
My big issue is that we had it connected to a separate server, designated for the laptop but it turns out that didn’t matter, all of a sudden we couldn’t even view that server to connect it. It was just gone.
I have spoken up, asked questions, and both my sponsor and her superiors have me bad attitudes and now I’m kinda stuck. Like, what am I supposed to do now?
They even ask you to pay for the laptop shopping if you were to return it.
What I want is to see from the actual people who have been affected by this- I want to hear from them. Where is this info coming from, because I want to read that.
One other big thing. When I first set up the laptop I, as a skeptic, covered the speaker and camera up. But I would watch the screen when I could. And on two separate occasions I saw, when they were remotely accessing it, that tgey went to a website called ipchicken.com and boom. They have my up address. So, yes. I am super concerned and I don’t know how to fix it.
I’m so sorry this happened to you ASH, I had a bad feeling about it from day one but I went in a group message chat with a recruiter. At that time, no one knew they were actually getting $50 plus for every one they recruited. I questioned things on the chat, posted my original blog about this topic only to let people know to be very cautious. I never cut them up, just said sites such as these and others have to be looked at very carefully before handing over personal information and the recruiter how was my friend, blocked me from her FB. I have received the info for my blogs from those who fell for the scam and get burnt. I received an update from one the other day, she now says her laptop would work at all and a computer guru friend checked it out and said the company had set it up to fail. She was one of the people that were out money from bogus ads, some were charged in the thousands. I may have to check and do another update. Thanks for you reply and your findings.
I reiterate my comment from 14 April. Too much information was being imparted. And, that information is what left these folks at risk.
I tried to warn those that giving out personal info especially email and password we’re red flags. They didn’t listen now they owe large sums of money for bogus accounts set up in their names. The $100 laptop wasn’t worth it. Thanks for visiting Roy.
The first red flag is when they ask for personal information. The kind of stuff you are never to give away. Why would anybody give away their passwords is beyond me. Never trust stuff like this. It’s sad to hear that people fell for it and lost money on it. If anybody offers you something for free do your research. See what other people are saying about it and never trust it blindly. I”m glad you didn’t fall for it Martha and thanks for warning others.
I was amazed at the people that get upset with me, saying it was legit Kasia. I can’t imagine what they were thinking to give out all that private info! Now I’m getting messages from some saying they wish they had took heed to my first warning post. Thanks for visiting!
Sorry this happened, but glad you shared it.
I tried to warn them, even told them that Google said it was a scam but some just didn’t listen. I think when some see “free”, they forget the consequences of certain things. I can’t imagine giving out an email and password! Thanks for stopping by Priscilla.
It is scary how often stuff like this happens. Many times people are fooled by ‘FREE’. Like I constantly see ‘FREE’ book. While there are many ways you can get Free books, you have to be careful any time something seems to good to be true. Thank you for reminding everyone to be careful with sensitive info on line. It is all to easy to be scammed.
I am very cautious about anything that says “FREE” but this one was so scary with all the personal info they needed from people that signed up. Now they are finding themselves getting bills for ads that were made in their name which they had no idea about. It’s a true nightmare for them. Thanks for visiting Kevin.
Can you tell me what you know about TNF Marketing?? They are the ones behind one of these laptop scandals. A woman named Beverly claims to be the owner and she is adamant about being a legitimate business.
Since I didn’t fall for the offer Jess, I’m only going by what those that got scammed are telling me. From what I know, Beverly of TNF Marketing was the one that sent the laptops out. Some had viruses loaded in them and others had their identity used to make illegal ads. That’s all I know about Beverly.
Anyone heard of ads magnet, mirror media group llc? I was given a free laptop and paid to rent ad space in my Facebook…what do y’all think. I didn’t have to provide any information. Does fb work like this?
I just received another comment on this same subject Katt. When the application was sent, it brought it back to the original free Laptop offer. My first thought that if this is an LLC, it may be legit but with so many scams, we can’t be too careful. I’m going to see what I can find on both these offers and if I find anything worthwhile, I will write a new chapter on this topic. Thanks for stopping by with your concern.
I am currently stuck in this scam as i write this…i feel so foolish i feel for it 😞
I’m so sorry to hear that Christine. I tried to get the warning out but even when I posted originally, some people get quite upset with my post saying it was legit. I worded it as a warning in my original post, never put them down at the beginning. I hope they aren’t sending you invoices for bogus ads like some are getting. This is one of the scams that if it seems to good to be true, run away quick! It’s a hard lesson for those that get pulled in but I hope you have a ending to your nightmare soon. Thanks for stopping by.
I commented back in September about Beverly and TNF Marketing. I got the laptop in July and in August I got extremely uncomfortable with the entire situation so I decided to research, which led me to this page. I disconnected from the internet, powered the laptop completely off, changed all my passwords and contacted the people in charge of the study to let them know I was done. After a lot of running around and getting information for me they finally gave me an address to send the laptop back. I let time go on and after about 2 months of being disconnected I got a text message informing me that I was disconnected and if I could please reconnect, I ignored the text. In November I got a message from one of the recruiters for this study informing me that I was done with the study and that the laptop was mine to keep. I never finished the study though cause I disconnected back in August. Does anyone have an ideas on what could have happened? I never sent them a copy of my DL and I changed all my passwords. I keep checking my Google Ads account and my Facebook Ads account too just in case and neither one has been used. How could they make this big of a mistake? Now I’m so worried that years later I’m going to run into trouble.
I remember when you replied a few months back Jess. You were smart not to give them a copy of your DL and I can see why you are worried about years to come. I too wonder if they will lay low and stay dormant and then within a few years of so they take the information they received and start using that for purchasing ads. I know a few people that have had large dollar amounts of ads in their names. If I hear anything that may help with your questions, I will let you know. In the mean time, just keep checking and hopefully you will be in the clear. Thanks for keeping me updated on your situation.
What private information do they have? Ssn? Bank account info? What?
Before someone received the free laptop for the study, they had to send in their name, address, driver’s license, a current gmail account with password. Once someone has your password, they can (not saying this company did) can get into all your personal information. I had a friend that fell for this and was out thousands of dollars from bogus advertising accounts set up using her name and information. I’ve always said if something seems too good to be true, it usually is Amy.
I have a feeling this is the same kinda scam, even though nothing has been reported yet. Luckyprediction.com & FBrenters.com, threw a sponsor ad on Facebook. I looked up everything I could to see if this was for real. But the more I look, the less likely this seems legit.
Anyways, I signed up, and received a call a couple days later on the weekend (odd). The person called from Toronto (647). Said I qualified, and they were sending a laptop with instructions. Sure enough, I received a laptop four days later, but again, I knew something is fishy. So I turned off the laptop, and disconnected the battery. They sent me an email stating what to do when I received the laptop along with the instructions within the package. Please read below.
Hey Peter,
Your laptop has been shipped and will arrive in 1-3 business days.
We are so excited for you to start earning easy cash for renting your Facebook with us! We’ve worked with hundreds of people all across Canada to safely and successfully rent their Ads Account.
We want to make sure you’ve got everything prepared to set up your account quickly and easily. Below is everything you need to know about next steps and what to expect for your FB Renters set up. If you have any questions at all, we are here to help! You can email us at info@fbrenters.com !
ENJOY YOUR NEW LAPTOP!
This laptop retails for $600+ and is yours to keep! We ask that you make sure to turn on the computer once it arrives and keep it plugged in and open at all times. This laptop will be how we access your ads account.
When your laptop arrives please work though these steps (5 minutes for $50):
1. Power the laptop on and connect to your WiFi
2. Open TeamViewer
3. SMS the TeamViewer Password and your Name to 647 699 3248. (We’ll pay you $50 within one business day of receiving the SMS).
4. Login to Facebook and go to the Ads Manager. Please leave this page up.
Here’s how; https://youtu.be/9iBVyltPF2g
5. Always leave the laptop plugged in and switched on
6. We will pay you $50 within one business day of receiving the Teamviewer password SMS and $50 each Monday thereafter while we use the account.
7. At the end of the process the laptop is yours to keep!
8. If you know anyone else who’d be interested please refer them to http://www.fbrenters.com
START MAKING MONEY!
Renting your Ads Account to FB Renters will be the easiest money you’ve ever made! By keeping your free laptop turned on and open, you’ll receive $50/week from when we start using your account! All payments will be made through a PayPal account so have your account information handy.
Finally, we also pay $25 for anybody you refer who signs up and becomes a customer! Do you know anybody else who’d like a free laptop and $50/week? If so, please get them to fill out the form on http://www.fbrenters.com and name you as a referrer. 🙂
So after seeing their poorly done website , and looking at a few things. I noticed the following
Logo is a rip off of Facebook with FB Renters beside it.
Website is recently made within this year. And there are other sites from 2015,2016, 2017 with the same and only testimony video. That’s odd.
They claim to have had over a few hundred successful people do this but no other testimony.
The laptop they sent is not new, and not worth $600. Lol
Their hiding their IP and all Info regarding the site owners with the same company internet privacy (Whois/noname)
And from what I understand, to be apart or add or manage someone’s ad account on Facebook, you have to sign in threw your own Facebook account and do it from your granted access. Not threw teamviewer on another person Facebook account.
There’s more that I found but this would be the major red flags that stopped me from turning on the laptop and continuing with the process. Right now I’m waiting for someone to email me about what’s going on so I can ask for a send back address and see where they want their laptop sent back so I can do some more research.
Below is the list of emails or website I found to be connected in some way
Luckyprediction.com
Abbie Smith info@fbrenters.com
647 699 3248
luckycelestial.com
Aimee@luckycelestial.com
Rentfbcash.com
Contact@rentfbcash.com
Rent-fb.com
Rentusyourfb.com
Rent4fb.com
Thanks for stopping by Peter, that sounds very similar. I haven’t seen or heard about the sites but it’s always a good idea to be very leery of unknown ads and do lots of research before jumping in.
after I signed up with fbrenters.com I lost my friends list and have to re-add them. I received a free laptop from them, then was paid $50.00 a week for them to advertise and $25.00 for every person that signed up. They have paid me but now put everything on hold meaning I do not get paid now. How do I get them off my facebook account?
I changed my password
I’m not familiar with that site Robert but I do know that many that signed up for the free laptop then signed up with ads and that’s where they started losing more money. I’m not sure how to get them off your FB account, maybe contact Facebook?